Using an air conditioner inevitably impacts your monthly electricity bill. Often, it's kept on during the hottest hours of summer days, which coincide with the times when electricity is most expensive. Let's take a look at its cost impact and how to manage it effectively.
How much does it cost to run an air conditioner for 24 hours?
Whether it is winter or summer, the question that concerns consumers remains the same: how much does it cost to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home? The answer is not straightforward, as several factors influence the cost on your bill, including:
- the energy efficiency rating of the air conditioner;
- the use during the day;
- the average cost of electricity.
The energy class of an air conditioner is closely linked to its energy consumption. Technical information can be found in the guides provided by manufacturers, where the power range assigned to the device is detailed.
Energy classes are expressed using letters from A to G: while A indicates high energy efficiency and therefore low average consumption, the letter G is assigned to air conditioners with very low energy efficiency, resulting in significantly higher consumption.
Additionally, there are other factors to consider when evaluating the purchase and installation of an air conditioner:
- type (it can be fixed or portable);
- power output;
- inclusion of inverter technology or not.
Inverter technology, in particular, allows the air conditioner's motor to remain on at a minimal level once the desired temperature is reached. This helps maintain a constant temperature without excessive energy expenditure, leading to positive effects on overall costs.
Do air conditioners use a lot of electricity?
Ultimately, the portion of your home electricity bill related to air conditioning depends on how many hours you use the air conditioner, the kWh consumption of the device, and the time of day it is used.
To reduce expenses, you can adopt some strategies that, in some cases, overlap with those already useful for heating during the colder months.
- For example, you can schedule the air conditioner to turn on so that your home is comfortable when you return. This way, the air conditioner operates steadily according to the user's set schedule, avoiding the need to run it at full power to achieve a cooling effect that would be impossible to achieve immediately, which would only result in a sharp increase in energy consumption.
- Air conditioners also have a dehumidifier mode, which reduces the amount of humidity in the house or room. This improves the air quality and consumes less energy than the cooling mode, while still ensuring comfort.
- It is always important to ensure that the thermal insulation of your home is adequate, even with simple measures. Just as drafts cause energy waste when the heating is on in winter, they also undermine any attempt to enjoy a cool home if warm air seeps in from outside. As a result, the air conditioner continues to work and consume energy unnecessarily.
- A significant contribution to cost optimization comes from smart home technology, which allows you to remotely manage the air conditioner and receive notifications of any anomalies or issues, such as an open window in the room you want to cool and make comfortable.
Finally, the user can choose the energy tariff that best suits their needs, taking advantage of the recent liberalization of the energy market to compare costs from different providers and make informed economic decisions.
How much does a 12,000 BTU air conditioner use?
Among the most common air conditioners on the market are those with 12,000 BTU. The acronym stands for British Thermal Unit, a measure of the air conditioner's cooling and heating capacity per hour. Along with 9,000 BTU units, these are the most popular and are suitable for cooling a room of 40-50 square meters.
As previously mentioned, air conditioners are categorized based on their energy efficiency class, so there are 12,000 BTU units that fall into the higher categories (A, A++, A+++) or the lower ones (F, G). An efficient 12,000 BTU model consumes about 300 watts per hour, while a less efficient one can consume over 1,000 watts per hour.
For those looking to make a forward-thinking investment that reduces consumption and maximizes benefits, a system with a heat pump can be a wise choice. This type of system offers both heating and cooling functions while utilizing renewable energy sources like air:
- In winter, cold outdoor air is transformed into warm air, which can be used for radiators and domestic hot water production.
- In summer, hot outdoor air is converted into pleasant cool air distributed by the air conditioner.
The combination with smart tools like intelligent thermostats ensures precise and careful temperature management, facilitating remote scheduling and monitoring, with the aim of consuming as little energy as possible and saving on costs.
Is it cheaper to run the AC all day?
The energy rate that covers nighttime hours is the most convenient in terms of energy costs, as we have previously discussed. Therefore, leaving the air conditioner on at night is, mathematically speaking, a way to stay cool without spending too much.
However, it is important to note that for the health of household members, it is not advisable to have an excessively low temperature in the bedroom. It’s recommended to avoid large temperature differences between indoors and outdoors.
In a bedroom with an air conditioner, the continuous flow of cold air can cause muscle discomfort, such as a stiff neck, and lead to headaches and respiratory issues. It is better to opt for the dehumidification mode, which reduces humidity and the associated discomfort, ensuring an ideal and hassle-free wake-up.
